Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For many families, it's a familiar scene: heads bent over glowing screens, conversations half-heard and the outside world slowly slipping into the background.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

He built a clumsy labyrinth based on half-heard conspiracy theories, well known hoaxes, and misunderstood speculation that came up in his most cursory of research to form the basis for a very modest pulpy thriller.

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2020

What’s more compelling than the half-heard table talk of a rock star, the story you have to complete yourself?

From Slate • May 10, 2016

And because it was not written by Shakespeare, it was to be only half-heard and half-understood.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2014

At the twelfth I discovered that he had been counting to himself because he began to count aloud in a noncommittal, half-heard voice.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles